Sorry you had to find out like that Penny. What they tried to do to you is a form of usery. They are playing the odds, hoping that enough people they can scam into accepting almost nothing will walk in the door.
For a lot of them it means they have no idea how to identify real jewelry, so they have to scam others to avoid losing money which means they should not be in business in the first place. The rest of them who are reasonably competent at IDing jewelry see how much money the others are making by robbing people and just do that anyways.
The bottom line is they regard anyone who walks in the door as trash. They are assuming that only two kinds of people want to sell things to them, criminals and the unknowing. Either way they can be exploited.
Then occasionally they get someone like you and have to slither back underneath their rock.
For a lot of them it means they have no idea how to identify real jewelry, so they have to scam others to avoid losing money which means they should not be in business in the first place. The rest of them who are reasonably competent at IDing jewelry see how much money the others are making by robbing people and just do that anyways.
The bottom line is they regard anyone who walks in the door as trash. They are assuming that only two kinds of people want to sell things to them, criminals and the unknowing. Either way they can be exploited.
Then occasionally they get someone like you and have to slither back underneath their rock.